Submitted by joshua on Fri, 2006-08-11 00:30.
General Discussion on the Approach as a Whole
Michael,
Eric's comments take issue with the spiritual principle functioning as the central core of the Sustainablity Principles System. He asserts that the domain of life is the core driver.
You have asserted that without the spiritual principle the system of principles could not function or exist as a coherent whole. He states:
"By anchoring the essence of human motivation and intention, the spiritual principle acts as the causal root which sets the tone for the whole. It drives the integration of the other four principles, those related to the material, economic, life, and social domains."
Although this issue might be in the realm of the age old unreslovable debate; which comes first spirit or matter? -- Eric's point prompts me to wonder whether it makes sense to question if the spiritual principle rises to the level of a 'precondition' that must be fulfilled in order for the other four principles to be applied.
I have offered on several occaisions during this dialogue that education for sustainability meets the test of a valid precondition.
I'm not sure how best to define 'precondition' in this particular case but it seems to be on the order of something that 1) must pre-exist in order to apply the principles succesfully, and 2)something that simultaneously applies to all the principles, to every policy and operational implication and to every action that flows from them.
You have also stated that the spiritual domain "identifies the necessary attitudinal orientation and provides the basis for a universal code of ethics".
Clearly this "attitudinal orientation" is a learned behavior, an outgrowth of various educational processes. I believe that such learning meets the test of a valid precondition.
Another precondition that seems to meet the test is having an operationally effective definition of sustainability. Perhaps the role of education really deserves to be defined in the preamble to the core principles as a precondition and at a level similar to the definition of sustainability.
It would then seem to follow that the same treatment may hold true for what you have identified as the spiritual domain. This might mean that the underlying premise, the principle and its policy and operational implications, are in essence a precondition to 4 core principles. They could even flow out of the role and definition of education as a precondition.
I know this is a rather radical suggestion. I'm eager to know what do you think about this?